Femtocells—building-based wireless access points interfaced with a wired broadband network—are generally deployed to improve indoor wireless coverage and to offload a mobility radio access network (RAN) operated by a wireless network and service provider. Femtocells typically operate in licensed portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, and generally offer plug-and-play installation. Improved indoor coverage includes stronger signal and improved reception (e.g., voice or data), ease of session or call initiation and session or call retention as well. Offloading a RAN can reduce operational and transport costs for a service provider since a lesser number of end users utilizes over-the-air (OTA) radio resources (e.g., radio frequency bands and channels), which are typically limited.
Coverage of a femtocell, or femto access point (AP), is generally intended to be confined within the bounds of an indoor compound (e.g., a residential or commercial building) in order to mitigate interference among mobile stations covered by a macrocell and terminals covered by the femto AP. Additionally, confined coverage can reduce cross-talk among terminals serviced by disparate, neighboring femtocells as well. Indoor wireless coverage improvements through femtocell also can mitigate customer attrition as long as a favorable subscriber perception regarding voice coverage and other data services with substantive delay sensitivity, or otherwise, is attained. In addition, a richer variety of wireless voice and data services can be offered to customers through a femtocell since such service offerings do not rely primarily on mobility RAN resources.
As deployment of femtocells increase, backhaul resources demand increases with ensuing increase in procurement, deployment, and maintenance cost of such resources. In addition, increase in density of femtocell deployments, traffic and signaling exchanged between a network management component, such as a radio network controller or a femtocell gateway, and a femto AP also increase. Related costs associated with operation of femtocell network in heavy-traffic conditions increase as network management components and management thereof become more complex in order to efficiently exchange traffic and control with deployed femto APs. Heavy-traffic conditions can cause congestion in the backhaul network and delays during communication, which can lead to diminished perceived quality of service and related subscriber attrition. Moreover, costly infrastructure and heavy-traffic operation conditions can curtail provision of value-added services that can provide commercial differentiator or advantages to a wireless service provide that deploys and manages a femtocell network. Mitigation of escalation of costs and reduction in operation and management complexity can avoid a trade-off with advantages provided by femtocells and associated subscriber attrition.